I'm a privacy pragmatist, writing about the intersection of law, technology, social media and our personal information. If you have story ideas or tips, e-mail me at khill@forbes.com. PGP key here.
These days, I'm a senior online editor at Forbes. I was previously an editor at Above the Law, a legal blog, relying on the legal knowledge gained from two years working for corporate law firm Covington & Burling -- a Cliff's Notes version of law school.
In the past, I've been found slaving away as an intern in midtown Manhattan at The Week Magazine, in Hong Kong at the International Herald Tribune, and in D.C. at the Washington Examiner. I also spent a few years traveling the world managing educational programs for international journalists for the National Press Foundation.
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Reminder: Sharing Facebook Intel With Your Enemies Is A Terrible Idea

What do the Taliban and an angry boyfriend in Philadelphia have in common? They both turn to Facebook for strategic info to use against their enemies.

First off: the Taliban. The Australian government is warning its soldiers about digital Mata Haris. The Aussies have discovered that Taliban insurgents are posing as attractive women on Facebook and friending soldiers as a way to gather intel. It’s a tried and true method, says David Axe at Danger Room, who includes in his write-up a case of explosive over-sharing. In 2007, four brand-spanking new Apache helicopters were bombed in Iraq after soldiers posted photos of them online that included geotags that allowed the enemy to “determine the exact location of the helicopters inside the compound.” Whoops. Disturbingly, more than half of the Australian soldiers surveyed for the report had never been trained in social media safety. Time to add Facebook and Twitter sessions to boot camp.

Closer to home, Facebook played an intimate role in a love triangle that grounded an airplane. Philadelphia, “the city of brotherly love,” did not live up to its moniker last week. Philly resident, Kenneth Smith, 26, was angry with his girlfriend’s ex, Christopher Shell. So he did what any outraged romantic rival might do: He sent angry text messages. Oh, and called in a fake bomb threat that resulted in a U.S. Airways plane bound for Dallas returning to Philadelphia so that Shell could be searched for liquid explosives… So, you know, just your typical rom-com story fodder.

What was Facebook’s role? According to the feds, Shell had posted a “compromising” photo of his ex-girlfriend to Facebook. The compromised woman and her current beau, Smith, were obviously displeased. It would seem that Shell was an avid Facebook user. Beyond using it to humiliate exes, he employed it to broadcast his travel plans. He planned to spend last weekend in Dallas to celebrate his 29th birthday. According to Gothamist, he was posting regular updates on Thursday about his arrival at the Philadelphia airport, his easy trip through airport security, and all of the other minute travel details that drive us crazy when our friends spam our news feed with them. If the Gothamist reporter could see the updates, I’m assuming Shell’s privacy settings were not very robust, and that he was broadcasting this publicly. It seems that Kenneth Smith took advantage of that intel to stage the bomb threat hoax, allegedly making a call from a public pay phone using the name “George Michaels” to report that Shell would be boarding the flight with liquid explosives.

After authorities turned the plane around, and detained, searched and questioned Shell, they let him continue on to Dallas, where his bad luck continued. In Texas, he was arrested for outstanding drug warrants. Meanwhile, Smith is now the one in hot water, reports Reuters. He was charged with falsely reporting a bomb threat and “could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.” U.S. Airways tells the Philly Inquirer that the stunt cost it “upward of tens of thousands of dollars.”

Meanwhile, I really hope things work out between Smith and his lady love. The only upside of all this is that it appears to have led Shell to take down his Facebook page (and thus the compromising photo). So, mission accomplished?

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